Retail revamp

How do you build business and community? Try a protected bike lane. “It’s better when families and children are out there riding together,” says Liz Durham, co-owner of Everyday Cycles and Motion in Evanston, Illinois. Durham says that a new two-way protected bike lane stretching along Chicago Avenue near Northwestern University is making family- and kid-friendly riding safer and more enjoyable. The lanes, which went in early last summer, pass by or close to several schools. “From my understanding, from various meetings and conversations, the number of children riding to schools has increased pretty dramatically since [the city] put the lanes in,” Durham says.

Family-friendly community building is one reason Durham and co-owner Ben Schapiro have actively supported Evanston’s expansion of a network of protected bike lanes. Schapiro is a veteran of local bicycle advocacy, sitting on Evanston’s citizen advisory committee when it first started planning for bike lanes about 15 years ago. In 2016, when some residents questioned the newly installed parking-protected lane on Dodge Avenue, Everyday Cycle and Motion was well-positioned to successfully convince the city’s aldermen of the value of keeping the lanes protected.

For the duo, support for high-quality protected infrastructure is partly a professional priority—but it’s also personal. Both ride bikes every day for transportation. “We want to be able to ride through the streets safely,” Durham says. “But also, improved bicycling infrastructure and facilities helps not just our business but, I think, all the businesses in a town.” Schapiro points out that while Evanston has long been a bike-friendly place, protected lanes have made it that much easier for new riders. “I’m seeing even more people riding now than three years ago.”

The family-owned regional retailer Wheel & Sprocket has a long history of supporting better bike infrastructure in the Milwaukee area, where four of its eight stores are located. Long-time owner Chris Kegel, who passed away last January, served as a national advocacy leader and inspiration for nearly three decades. “We just think that more bike infrastructure makes it easier to get around and it invites more people to feel safe and included,” says co-owner Amelia Kegel, one of Chris Kegel’s two daughters.

Kegel says patience is a virtue and a requirement when it comes to advocacy. Wheel & Sprocket spent years pushing for legislation that would eventually result in the bridging of a critical two-mile gap in the Oak Leaf system. “Now you can go from downtown Milwaukee up to Sheboygan County on parkway and bike path the entire way. The connectivity issue is really the biggest thing.”

Although their newest store, in Oak Park, Illinois, just opened last month, Kegel says Wheel & Sprocket has already aligned with Chicago’s Active Transportation Alliance to work on creating better bike connections between the suburb and the city. “There are just a couple of projects that could really leverage something amazing happening.”

The new bike lane at Walmart’s San Leandro, California store. (Image: PeopleForBikes)

At the opposite of the store size spectrum is Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, headquartered in Northwest Arkansas which is home to a growing network of world-class bike trails and paths. In late October, Walmart took took a positive step to support bicycling incorporating on-street bike infrastructure in front of their San Leandro, California store as part of a remodel. PeopleForBikes advised on the project and the retail giant worked closely with local advocates Bike East Bay and city transportation staff on the improvements.

The inside-and-out store remodel presented Walmart with the opportunity to better connect the store to the surrounding town—both capitalizing on and helping to expand San Leandro’s bike-friendly features and encouraging individuals and families to arrive by bike. Adding bike lanes to the parking lot calms the storefront for everyone, including shoppers on foot. Walmart added bike racks and repair equipment at the front of the store.

“San Leandro has a vibrant cycling community and advocacy leader in Bike East Bay. This bike lane is an important step to integrate bicycling into Walmart customers’ lifestyles and to encourage store associates to bike to work,” said PeopleForBikes Vice President of Business Network Jenn Dice. “Our hope is that the San Leandro store inspires other retailers to incorporate bike lanes into development plans.”